It is generally known that a planet a carrier constitutes an important part in a planetary transmission. According to DE 199 45 242 A1, such a planet carrier comprises one spider shaft on one end of which are non-rotatably fastened two guide washers (also called spider plates). For this purpose, said two guide washers are aligned parallel with each other and firmly interconnected at a distance from each other so that a clearance is formed between them for accommodating planetary gear wheels. In this prior art, the two guide washers are assembled by means of special rivet bolts whose double-ended, front-side pivots are clamped in receiver apertures of the two guide washers.
According to DE 100 14 464 A1, the planet gears proper can be supported upon so-called planet bolts located and fastened in the clearance formed by the two guide washers.
A disadvantage in both solutions is the multiplicity of separate parts needed for the manufacture of the planet carrier and the production costs associated therewith.
It is further known to produce such a planet carrier as a forging part which involves comparatively heavy parts which are expensive because of the finishing costs that are needed.
In another alternative, the planet carrier comprises one guide washer consisting of one sheet deformable part with segmentally crimped links inserted and welded in slotted receiver apertures in the opposite second guide washer. Those sheet deformable parts are relatively complex and hard to control since, among other things, the elongated receiver apertures in the second guide washer negatively influence the strength of the part regarding the notch effect, and the segmental welding of the links can produce problematic courses of welding seams or warping of the part.
Considering this background, the problem on which the invention is based is to develop a generic planet carrier so that it can be produced with a small number of separate parts, the same as with an assembly technique of reliable processing and of reasonable cost.